Photo: Boeing
In the auto industry, those things called recalls are pretty common occurrences. They are at times accompanied by stop sale orders, or do- not-use appeals. Most of the time, they all get sorted out without major issues and quite rapidly.
In the aviation world, they don’t use the term recall, but something called grounding does happen, as it most recently did with the Boeing 737 MAX. That’s when a fault so serious it could bring aircraft down is discovered, and all similar machines are prevented from flying until a fix is implemented.
Such occurrences are rare in civilian aviation, and even more so when it comes to military aircraft. Yet, the U.S. Army broke the mold this week, when it confirmed it will no longer by flying its mammoth fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
The Chinook, also made by Boeing, has been around ever since 1961, and it generally performed flawlessly. As a result, the tandem rotor is one of the workhorses of the U.S. Army, with some 400 of them currently in service.
All of them will be banned from flying over an undisclosed period of time, after Army personnel found some of them are prone to engine fires.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. Army spokespeople, an isolated number of helicopters could catch fire due to a fuel leak. No injuries or serious incidents were reported so far, and the grounding was decided upon out of excess caution.
"The Army has identified the root cause of fuel leaks that caused a small number of engine fires among an isolated number of H-47 helicopters, and is implementing corrective measures to resolve this issue," said according to Reuters Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.
The affected Chinooks seem to be the ones using Honeywell engines, although no other details were provided.
Such occurrences are rare in civilian aviation, and even more so when it comes to military aircraft. Yet, the U.S. Army broke the mold this week, when it confirmed it will no longer by flying its mammoth fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
The Chinook, also made by Boeing, has been around ever since 1961, and it generally performed flawlessly. As a result, the tandem rotor is one of the workhorses of the U.S. Army, with some 400 of them currently in service.
All of them will be banned from flying over an undisclosed period of time, after Army personnel found some of them are prone to engine fires.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. Army spokespeople, an isolated number of helicopters could catch fire due to a fuel leak. No injuries or serious incidents were reported so far, and the grounding was decided upon out of excess caution.
"The Army has identified the root cause of fuel leaks that caused a small number of engine fires among an isolated number of H-47 helicopters, and is implementing corrective measures to resolve this issue," said according to Reuters Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.
The affected Chinooks seem to be the ones using Honeywell engines, although no other details were provided.
Google News